The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 114

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride, Episode 114

“……It’s fortunate that the First Emperor helped us. We nearly came to ruin.”
“…….”
“Your Majesty, surely you understand that this time, at least, you must thank the First Emperor?”
“……Quiet.”
Though he hadn’t affirmed it outright, nor had he denied it either, James stifled a laugh at his evasion.
Soon enough, they arrived at their intended destination.
It was the secret chamber where they had met in confidence once before.
Habier and Sebastian were already there, having been summoned in advance.
Time being short, they exchanged only brief greetings before proceeding to the matter at hand.
“As you requested, I’ve investigated the Mansion. The Temple began frequenting the Mansion in earnest in Imperial Year 25. However, it appears they were not offering sacrifices at that time.”
“Then they were doing something else?”
“It’s my conjecture that since the Emperor wouldn’t leave the Mansion, the Temple personnel came and went from it. The First Emperor was always accompanied by Caligon, the first High Priest.”
“Furthermore, we discovered this, Your Majesty.”
Sebastian handed over a blueprint.
“……What is this?”
“An underground passage connecting the Mansion Basement to each of the Temples.”
Lucian’s eyes widened as he examined the blueprint again.
“I myself traveled from the hidden passage within the Grand Temple’s underground prison to the Mansion. I recall it taking well over thirty minutes.”
“And as you can see from the blueprint, it was completed in Year 26. We believe they frequented the Mansion specifically to excavate these underground passages.”
The blueprint they brought was divided into several paths, like a labyrinth.
This meant that just as with the Grand Temple, one could reach the Mansion through underground passages from other locations as well.
Staring at it intently, Lucian turned to James.
“James, do you have a map of the Capital?”
“I shall retrieve it.”
While James was away, Habier continued his account.
“Also, please examine this.”
This time, Habier produced a notebook from his breast pocket.
“It’s a Name Record documenting who was offered as sacrifice to the Mansion by the Temple.”
He unfolded the notebook, noting how difficult it had been to obtain.
“The first sacrifice was offered on the 12th day of the 7th month, Year 27. Thirty-four women were given. The next was the 15th day of the 7th month, Year 37. Twenty-eight men were offered.”
After that, without fail, sacrifices were made every ten years, each time in the 7th month of a “-7 year” cycle.
With each offering, the number of sacrifices, their gender, age, and race all varied.
“Fortunately, by around Year 100, the number of sacrifices had dwindled. Most often around five individuals……consisting of one death-row prisoner and novice priests.”
Habier, recalling his own past, paused for a moment.
“Ahem! In any case, from Year 27 until now, sacrifices have been made continuously for nearly three hundred years. Though there are gaps in the record…….”
“Gaps?”
“Yes, I’ve noted them separately. Please see this.”
Habier showed Lucian the notes he had prepared beforehand.
Years 97, 137, 187, 207, 217, and 277.
Six times in total.
“I don’t know the reason, but it’s recorded only that Elite Priests were dispatched during these times.”
“……Elite Priests?”
“Think of them simply as an army of Dark Magic users. They execute the High Priest’s commands by sacrificing their very lives—living weapons of murder.”
“To the naked eye, they differ little from ordinary people, making them difficult to distinguish.”
“The only way to identify them is that Elite Priests bear a symbol carved somewhere on their bodies. So I beg you, if Your Majesty should see someone bearing this symbol, please be cautious.”
The symbol Habier spoke of was the Möbius Strip, which embodied the Temple’s doctrine.
Lucian reviewed the notes once more, keeping the warnings of both men in mind.
‘These seem to be the people who lived in the Mansion.’
He suddenly recalled Lia, who had gone to the Mansion.
She had mentioned five people in total, but since she said she would search starting from when the diary was written, having one or two more wouldn’t be a significant problem.
‘And she said they all vanished overnight.’
If the Elite Priests had invaded through the underground passages, abducted them, and offered them as sacrifices, it was perfectly comprehensible.
“And……though I’m uncertain if it’s connected.”
Sebastian spoke hesitantly.
“In the early-to-middle years of Imperial Year 20, witch hunts ran rampant.”
“Witch hunts?”
“Yes, orders to hunt witches were issued across the entire Empire. The Temple primarily led these efforts in capturing them. And, shamefully, we still hear reports of witches being captured even now.”
“In fact, the Old Faction has records of capturing witches and absorbing their power. I wonder if my earlier caution regarding Miss Lia wasn’t influenced by the relationship between witches and Dark Magic users. After all, today’s Dark Magic user is merely the complete eradication of the witch’s potential.”
“Hmm…….”
Hearing their account, Lucian felt deeply unsettled.
“When did you say the Temple began frequenting the Mansion in earnest?”
“Year 25.”
“Year 25…… The First Emperor passed away in Year 26.”
And according to Ruber’s account from before, the First Emperor had massacred many people in the Mansion before his death.
If he had killed so many for no reason, it must have been to offer them as sacrifices. But given they weren’t recorded in the Temple’s records…….
“Perhaps those who were massacred weren’t ordinary people, but witches.”
“Pardon?”
“Think about it. All the circumstances now point to the Temple and the First Emperor joining forces to seal Lia. We don’t know exactly when or why they sealed her, but a problem arose in the middle. To resolve this matter, they captured witches like Lia. But ultimately, they couldn’t solve it, so the First Emperor flew into a rage.”
“Ah! That’s quite possible!”
“Habier, have you also determined precisely what the Temple offered sacrifices for?”
“Yes! It was to maintain the seal, they said. But this is somewhat different from maintaining a seal to prevent it from being broken.”
According to Habier’s explanation, it was thus:
A chamber for offering sacrifices and the Magic Circle drawn on the door of the room where Lia was imprisoned.
They converted the offered sacrifices into a form of energy and transmitted it.
And what they were trying to transmit energy to was beyond the door.
In other words, the act of offering sacrifices had nothing to do with Lia’s seal.
“Your Majesty, how did you say you broke Miss Lia’s seal?”
“I entered the chamber and directly dissolved the Incantation written on the Sealing Stone.”
“Exactly. That means what’s connected to Miss Lia’s seal isn’t the door, but the Sealing Stone itself.”
Lucian, who hadn’t considered this far, was startled.
“If the Temple had feared that Miss Lia’s seal would break, they should have inscribed the Incantation directly on the Sealing Stone. But did they?”
“……They inscribed the Incantation on the door, not the Sealing Stone.”
“Perhaps the Temple simply couldn’t open the door where Miss Lia was imprisoned.”
“……Then why would they sacrifice so many people? If they weren’t afraid of the seal breaking, then what was it for?”
“It seems they were trying to keep Miss Lia alive.”
“……What?”
“Something I learned while studying Dark Magic: if a soul remains separated from the body for too long, the person dies.”
Lucian’s heart sank.
“No matter how strong a seal is, it cannot prevent death. After all, the body and soul are separated. Moreover, Miss Lia was sealed for about three hundred years. It would be impossible for her soul and body to remain unharmed while separated for such a long period.”
“Then…… the sacrifices the Temple offered every ten years were…….”
“Yes, they were trying to save Miss Lia’s life. The maximum period a soul can remain separated from the body is ten years.”
Ten years. The cycle of “-7 years” in which they offered sacrifices. The same “-7 year” cycle in which Lia’s spirit grew unstable.
‘She was essentially dying.’
As the body died, the spirit naturally deteriorated as well. The Temple, through sacrifices, infused new energy, allowing her spirit to persist.
Lucian suddenly recalled the moment five years ago when he first found his way to the Mansion—Lia scattering into the air, fading away.
If he hadn’t sought her out that day, or if he’d arrived even slightly later, he would have lost her forever.
Because three years ago, when the “-7 year” cycle came around, the Temple made no offering.
At his own command, Habier had prevented the offering of sacrifices, believing it would help Lia.
By shaking the Temple internally, they’d managed to deceive its watchful eyes.
“Hah-hah!”
“Your Majesty!”
Lucian gasped desperately for breath. His heart would not settle, and his hands trembled violently.
“I……I nearly killed Lia.”
Regardless of intent, regardless of the good he’d thought to achieve, the thought that his mistaken choice might have cost Lia her life made him feel as though he were losing his mind.
Lucian suddenly lifted his head as something occurred to him, his gaze flickering with understanding.
“Ah! When Lia was a ghost, she couldn’t go down to the Basement. It was as if something blocked her entirely, preventing all access. Surely this too…….”
“A body without a soul would be tempting prey for other spirits. If a Barrier hadn’t been set, another spirit would surely have inhabited Miss Lia’s body.”
The Temple, which he’d believed to be tormenting Lia, had actually been trying to save her. The contradiction bewildered him.
Beyond bewilderment, he couldn’t decide whether to revile this act or to be grateful that Lia had been kept alive.
But this much was certain.
‘If Lia learned the truth, she would suffer.’
The image of Lia weeping, losing her composure, formed unbidden in his mind.
‘I……won’t tell her.’
Now, at last, Lucian truly understood Lia’s heart.
‘Was this how Lia felt when she kept secrets from me?’
Not rejection, not dismissal as foolish. Only a heart aching with concern and love.
“Have you regained yourself, Your Majesty?”
Sebastian breathed Holy Power over him, and as Habier supported his arm, Lucian managed to gather his strength.
“……It’s done. What we discussed today stays between us. Under no circumstances must Lia learn of this.”
“Yes, we shall keep it so.”
“Your Majesty, I’ve brought the map you requested.”
As they were settling the tense atmosphere, James returned with the map. Lucian laid out both the map and the underground blueprint side by side.
He then conjured them both into the air using Magic.
“This is the Mansion, and this is the Grand Temple…….”
Adjusting their relative sizes…….
“……Hah!”
Looking at the map spread before them, Sebastian let out a breath of amazement.
“Just as I suspected.”
“Such a thing lay dormant beneath the Capital……!”
The underground passages excavated by the Temple sprawled across the entire Capital. Observing this, Lucian marked the starting points of the underground tunnels on the map.
“We’ll need a comprehensive investigation. Sebastian, based on this blueprint, verify where entrances are positioned, and whether any additional passages have been constructed.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“And the reason I summoned you two so urgently is that I wished to ask about the 16th Emperor.”
Lucian knows nothing of Julius.
Even when he’s tried to investigate, the man had apparently been skilled at deception, as his reputation was better than expected.
“I hear the 16th Emperor had quite intimate relations with the Temple. Is this true?”
“Yes, it is true. Dark Magic users were constantly stationed at his side, and when his health permitted, he frequently visited the Grand Temple.”
“What of you, Sebastian?”
If the Old Faction’s account was thus, what would the New Faction say?
Sebastian closed his eyes, recalling the past.
“Since we of the New Faction were on poor terms with the Old Faction, our audiences with the 16th Emperor were rare. More accurately, he treated us as though we didn’t exist.”
Julius had sided only with the Old Faction. He refused even conversation or contact with the New Faction. In short, he had shamelessly favored only the Old Faction.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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